Crate for bottles.



P. ESGHBNBAGH.

CRATE FOR BOTT APPLIOATIQN FILED .TU 19. 1912.

1,052, 140, Patented Feb. 4, 1913.

gig/V70 v rying the same.

STATES PATENT onnron.

FRANZ nscnnnnscn, on ST. JAMES, NEW max, ASSIGNOB or ONE-HALF 'ro nonesn, or BROOKLYN, new Yonx.

CRATE iron BOTTLES.

This invention relates to an improved.

shipping .crate for bottlescont-aining beer, ale, porter and other fermented liquids, so that four dozen of pint-bottles, or a corresponding number 0 quart-bottles can be conveniently shipped, the crates permitting of being rolled, instead of being carried by means of handles and the bottles removed conveniently from the crate; after the cover.

is detached fromthe body of the same.

The shipping-crates for beer and other fermented liquors were heretofore made of square or oblong shape and provided with intersecting partitions for the bottles, and a cover whic is hinged to one side of the .body of the crate and provided with a look at the opposite side for being locked when shipping the crate. Hand-holes were provided in the side-walls of,the crate for car'- Owing tothe weight of the bottles and the crate, the crates were handled with considerable inconvenience not only by the shipper and the receiver, but also by the employees of the railroads, boat lines, etc.

The object of this invention is to furnish an improved shipping crate for beer and other fermented liquids which is constructed in the form of a short cylindrical barrel, and

providedwith means for holding each bottle individually, so that the crate, instead of being lifted by means of the hand-holes, can be readily rolled to the place of storage, shipment, or use and conveniently closed or opened for removing the full and replacing the empty bottles; and for this purpose the invention consists of a shippin crate for bottles which comprises a cylin rical body having a solid bottomand exterior hoops a plurality of independent bottle-holding cups arranged in concentric circles on the bottom of the crate, a perforated neck-holding partition provided with as many holes as there are bottlesto be supported, said perforated Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 4,1913.

Application filed June 19, 1912. Serial in. 704,600.

partition bein provided with a square cen ter-opening w tnch is fitted over a square upright center-post of the crate,'and a cover provided with a central opening for the square upper end of the post and with means for-attachingand looking it to the body of the crate. s

In the accompanying drawings, 1

represents a perspective view of my 1mproved shipping crate for bottles, Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same, Fig. 3 is a plan-view of the crate with the-cover and horizontal partition removed, Fig. 4 is a detail vertical central sectionjthroughone of the bottle-holding cups attached to the bottom of the crate, and Fig. 5 a detail top view of the cup.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures.

' Referring to the drawings, 0 represents the body of my improved shipping crate for bottles. The body -'-of the crate is made of wood or sheet metal of cylindrical shape in the nature of the body of a short barrel, and

held together by means of exterior hoops a,

one near the upper and one near the lower part of the'bo 7 when the body is made ,of

wood. 'The bo y a is provided with a. solid wooden bottom (1 whlch is attached to the cylindrical body. a in the usual manner. To the center of the-bottom a= is attached a square upright center-post a, which is preferably screwed at its lower end into a central openingfof the .bottom, and "which is provided at its upper end with a shoulder c and a square end- 0 of a smaller size than thebody of the center-post c. To the bottom of the crate are attached forty-eight sheetmetal bottle-holding cups d, which cups are stamped of sheet-metal with an inwardlyextending bottom-flange d, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, said flange being preferably provided with two or more holes d? for permitting the nailin or. screwing of the cups to the bottom 0 the crate. The bottlehol'ding cups d are arranged in three concentric rows, the inner row containing nine cups, the intermediate row sixteen, and the outer row twenty-three cups, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. The proper position of the cups in the crate is obtained by means of a marking board, which is provided with as. many marking-points, arranged in concentric rows, there are bottles to be shipped in, the crate, which board is pro vided with a square central opening and guided downward on the center-post until the projecting points arrive at the bottom of the crate. The marking-board is then pressed downward on the bottom, so that pricks or marks produced on the same.

NVhen the case is to contain more or less than four dozen of bottles, the numeric arrangement of concentric rows of cups has to be correspondingly altered and ada ted to the number of bottles to be shippe in the crate. 'When all the bottles have been placed in the cups, they are held in position by means of a neck-holding plate or partition'e, which is provided with acenter-opening 0 so as to be placed over the center-post 0, and with as many holes corresponding to the size of the necks of the bottles, as there are bottles, so that whenthewdisk shaped plate or partition is pressed downwardly as far as permitted by the necks'of the bottles, the same will be held firmly in position against changing their position during transit. The horizontal disk-shaped partition 6 may be made of wood, heavy pasteboard, thick layer of felt or other material which exerts a certain friction on the necks of the bottles as well as on the inner circumference of the body of the crate.

The crate is closed by a'cover f, which is made of wood and fitted snugly into the upper end of the body a of the crate. It is provided with a central square opening 0 by which it fits on the square end 0 of the center-post 0. The cover f is provided with parallel reinforcing slats f which extend over the upper edge of the body a and which are screwed,'nailed' or otherwise at: tached to the cross-boards of the cover. The cover is provided at one side with projecting dowels f that enter into mortises of the body, preferably one at each side of the center-slat f and at the opposite side with inclined holes 0 which are drilled through the ends of the slat. f cover ,7 and the upper end of the body a of the crate, so that a soft wire 10 can be passed, through the holes and over the upper edge 'of the slats and body, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the wires being then twisted and provided with a lead' seal for shipping thecrate in closed and locked position. When the crate is to be opened, the seals are broken and the wires removed upon which the cover and partition can be lifted off" and the bottles removed-as'required for use. When the empty bottles are to be reshipped, the bottles are placed in position in the cups, the partition placed on the necks of the bottles and the cover replaced on the body of the crate and locked thereto 'by means of fastening wires,

or in any other manner, sothatthecover is heldin position during the return shipment ofthe bottles to the bottlers or breweries supplying the beer.

The body of the crate may be p with hand-openings h, preferablylocated at diametrically opposite points, below the transverse center-slat 7, for permitting th'e provided liftingof the crate after the same has been crate are, first, that four or more dozen of bottles can be shipped in a comparatively small and compact crate, which can be conveniently handled by rolling owing to its cylindrical or barrel-shape, secondly, that the crate can be conveniently shipped by rail or vessel, asit takes up'a considerably smaller space than ,the square or oblong crates heretofore in use; thirdly, thatthe bottles being supported at three points, namely the. bottoms, necks and heads, are

not liable to breakage and loss of bottles in handling and shipping the' crates; and,

lastly, that the objectionable hinge and locking devices heretofore used for shipping crates of this kind are dispensedwith and replaced by cheaper and more-convenientlyhandled locking devices.

1. A shipping-crate for bottles, comprising a cylindrical body provided with a bot tom, a fixed center-post attached to thebottom, bottle-holding means attached .to the bottom and arranged in concentric rows or groups around the center-post, a perforated partition placed overthe necks of the bot tles', a. cover supported on the center-post,

and means for attaching the cover to the body of the crate. I

, 2. A shipping-crate for bottles, comprising a cylindrical body'having a closed bottom, a square center-post attached to the center of the bottom, bottle-holdingcups attached to said bottom and arranged in concentric rowsor groups around the cen terapost, a disk-shapedpartition. having a square center-opening placed over the post and as many openings arranged concentri cally around the center-opening as there are as my invention, I have signed my name in bottles placed in the cups, and -a. cover for presence of two subscribing witnesses. thecrate provided with a square opening for fitting over the.square upper end of the FRANZ IESCHENBAGHY'C 5 center-post, and means for attaching the Wit e e cever to the body of the crate. PAUL GoEPEL,

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing JOHN MUBTAGH. 

